A/N: This chapter is dedicated to new reader, duchess123. Thanks for reading, duchess! I hope you continue to enjoy this story! I promise Gwaine will show up soon!

-C

"Here," Gaius said, pointing to the pages of an open book. "It was an Afanc."

Krysia leaned over to get a better look, still shaken up from the events in the tunnel.

"An… a what?" Merlin asked, frowning down at the pages.

"It's a creature born of clay," Krysia read, looking over the passage carefully. "But this can only made by the most powerful sorcerers. We're dealing with serious business." She ran her finger across the page, hoping, searching…. But there was nothing. "It doesn't say how to defeat one, Gaius."

But Gaius, she found when she turned to look at him, was already considering the books on his shelf, looking for one that might have the answers.

"That could take days," Merlin argued. "Gwen'll be dead by then."

"Have you got a better idea?" Gaius challenged, and Merlin left the room. "After him, Krysia. Make sure he doesn't behave like an idiot again."

Krysia sighed, rushing after him. She saw the pyre being put up in the square as she trailed behind Merlin, and when they reached the dungeons she saw Gwen lying on the floor of her cell dejectedly.

"Oh, Gwen," she murmured, frowning down at her poor friend.

But Merlin kept pressing on, and with a sinking feeling Krysia realized where he was leading her.

They reached the cave holding the Great Dragon and Merlin called out, "Hello?"

"Hello," responded that smug voice, and Krysia drew back slightly as the dragon came down to them, perching on its rock and looking at them. "The great warlock and enchantress return, as I knew they would."

"I need to know how to defeat an Afanc," Merlin said firmly.

Either he wasn't as afraid of the dragon as Krysia, or his anger at the events he'd put into motion were overcoming his fear, because he was facing down this great beast as if he'd been doing it his whole life.

"Yes, I suppose you do," the dragon replied lazily.

This made Krysia angry enough to step forward and say, "Well, are you going to tell us how or not?"

The dragon blinked lazily at her and said, "Trust the elements that are at your command."

Well, that was about as unhelpful as it got.

"Elements?" Merlin asked, puzzled. "But what is it that I have to do?"

"Even you two cannot do this alone," the dragon drawled. "You are but one side of a coin, Merlin, but Krysia is on a different coin entirely. Merlin is the other side of yours."

Krysia looked at the dragon, knowing that whoever the other side of her coin was would surely be the father of these children she was supposedly going to have. At least he wasn't Arthur. That had to be an improvement.

"I-I don't understand," Merlin complained. "Just tell me what it is I have to do."

Instead, the Great Dragon flew off from its perch.

"No!" Krysia cried. "No, please, we need help! What do we have to do?"

"I have told you," the dragon replied, laughing.

"Oh, yeah, right," Merlin said, still a bit confused. "Thanks."

When they got back to Gaius's chambers, they began searching through the books, Krysia getting stacks off the shelf, each of them taking half and sifting through.

Gaius came in and frowned at them.

"What are you doing?" Gaius asked, confused.

"Looking for a book," Krysia announced wearily.

"Are you going to tell me which one?" Gaius pressed, glancing at the incredible variety of books they had spread out before them.

"A book on elements," Merlin explained, flipping through the pages of the one in his hands, perhaps a bit faster than was advisable.

"Elements?" Gaius asked, confused.

"Elements," Krysia muttered. "Any way to help us narrow this search a bit, Gaius?"

"Well," Gaius sighed, sitting down across from her, "most of them. The study of base elements is at the very heart of the scientific process."

"But relating to the Afanc and killing it," she replied drily. "I already knew about the science bit."

Gaius sat thoughtfully, looking down at the books as the pair continued their flipping. Then he replied, "Well, the Afanc is a creature made of earth and water. That's two of the four base elements."

"What about the other two?" Merlin asked, and Krysia sat up, putting down her book, beginning to see what the dragon was trying to tell them.

"If it takes two to make, maybe it takes two to destroy!" she said happily. "Fire! Wind and fire!"

"And how did you two figure all this out?" Gaius asked suspiciously.

The pair looked at each other nervously.

"Erm… I just knew, you know?" Merlin finally said, casually as possible, and Gaius raised his eyebrows. "One of my powers, you know?"

Krysia would have laughed, but instead she said, "Tell him what else your powers told you, Merlin."

"That I am only one side of a coin," Merlin said wearily. "The brighter side, obviously."

This time Krysia did give a snort of laughter, and Gaius raised his eyebrows even higher.

"And who's the other side?" he prompted.

"That would be Arthur," Krysia said promptly, relishing Merlin's sour look.

Just then Morgana burst into the room all in a flurry, very clearly upset. Krysia dropped her book and stood.

"They're bringing forward the execution," Morgana said wildly. "We have to prove Gwen's innocence."

"We're trying," Gaius assured her.

"Please, just tell me what I can do to help," Morgana insisted.

"We need Arthur," Merlin said, although he didn't seem too pleased about it.

"Arthur?" Morgana asked him, confused.

"There's a monster in the water supply," Krysia explained. "It's called an Afanc. It's what's making the people sick."

"Well, we must tell Uther," Morgana said boldly, with all of the assurance of someone who was used to not only knowing an answer, but having it be the right one.

"The Afanc's a creature forged by magic," Gaius explained. "Telling Uther won't save Gwen. He'd just blame her for conjuring it."

"So what are we to do?" Morgana asked, once again looking a bit desperate.

Merlin drew himself up.

"We need to destroy it," he said. "Then the plague will stop and Uther may see sense."

"And that's why you need Arthur," Morgana said, understanding.

"Yes, he's the best chance we have at slaying monsters," Krysia agreed. "But you know he won't want to disobey Uther."

Morgana grinned and said, "Leave that to me."

As she left to gather Arthur for the task at hand, Gaius handed the key to the water supply tunnels to Merlin, who gave Krysia an expectant look.

She was going to have to go back, and she was already dreading it.

Krysia and Merlin awaited Morgana and Arthur in the square, and Krysia was surprised that not long after Arthur approached them.

"You'd better be right about this, Merlin," Arthur growled as they stood in the doorway to the tunnel, lighting torches. There was the sound of a growl deep in the tunnel and Morgana gasped.

"You should stay here," Krysia said softly. "I wish I could, but-"

"I'm coming with you," Morgana demanded, as Krysia knew she would.

"No," Arthur said firmly.

"Afraid she'll make you look weak in front of servants?" Krysia teased, but Arthur didn't seem amused.

"Father will slam us both in chains if he knew we'd endangered her," Arthur said, "and probably her along with us."

"Well, good thing he doesn't know about it, then," Morgana said, smiling.

"But if you get hurt," Krysia reasoned, "he will know. And you could get hurt."

"So could the pair of you," Morgana said coldly. "If you don't get out of my way."

Krysia looked over to see that Merlin was amused, although Arthur certainly didn't seem to find any humor in what they were doing, especially Morgana's behavior, as if they could have expected anything less.

"How are we going to find it?" Morgana asked as they passed around torches and began their descent.

"No idea," Krysia admitted, "but hopefully we find it before it finds us."

Arthur spun around abruptly.

"Stop."

They all turned and stopped.

"What?" Merlin asked, straining to see in the darkness.

"A shadow, probably," Krysia whispered. "Everything looks like a monster down here."

Arthur nodded slowly and they turned around, continuing to move, going close to the water supply.

"Spread out," Arthur ordered.

They did so, although Krysia hadn't gotten very far when she heard a growl and she hurried back to find that Morgana had also rushed to Arthur.

"What is it?" Morgana demanded. "Are you all right?"

"He looks fine," Krysia said, checking him over to be sure.

"Did you see it?" Merlin demanded, closing in on them as well.

"Yes," Arthur said brushing Krysia away, still disoriented, but otherwise fine.

"And?" Krysia asked. "What did it look like?"

He turned to her and opened his mouth, frowning slightly.

"It - it's quick."

As he said this, the Afanc came up in front of Morgana, who screamed. Arthur chased after it, still disoriented though he was, but it disappeared once more.

"Where is it?" he cried.

"This way, I think," Krysia said nervously, gesturing down the pathway, and they followed her, heading forward as a group once more. As they went, the Afanc came into full view around the corner and Arthur swung at it, losing his sword as the thing swiped away Morgana's torch.

"Arthur, use the torch!" Merlin cried, and Arthur began to brandish the flame at the beast. Krysia heard Merlin mutter, "Lyfte ic þe in balwen ac forhienan." As he said his spell, the flame blew the flames of Arthur's torch into the Afanc, using wind and fire to incinerate the creature.

It was over.

The following morning, Krysia was asked to accompany Gaius in telling Uther about the events in the tunnel, to prove Gwen's innocence. She was nervous, but there was no better way to clean up Merlin's mess.

They sat in the council chamber, Krysia feeling strange sitting rather than standing at the fringes as a servant. But as a representative with Gaius, she had the right, so she tried to remember how her mother had taught her to sit as if she belonged, and she held her head up high enough to belong, but low enough to not seem insolent.

"It's very good," Uther said, laughing over a parchment one of his councilors had given him.

"Good news, Sire," Gaius said, his turn coming. "There are no new deaths, and those that were sick are recovering."

"Good," Uther agreed firmly. "Strange, I've never heard of an Afanc before."

Gaius nodded at Krysia, who cleared her throat.

"The Afanc," she recited, "is a creature only summoned by powerful magic. Only an ancient sorcerer with the power to mirror the spirit of life can invoke it. I…I found this at the water source and Gaius told me to bring it." She held forward the cracked egg shell she'd found after they defeated the Afanc.

"It bears the mark of Nimueh, sire," Gaius said softly. "We must be vigilant, sire."

"Will I never be rid of her?" Uther growled.

Krysia frowned, confused.

Who was Nimueh, and what did she have to do with Camelot? What was she not being told?

"Sire," Gaius began slowly, but Uther cut him off in anger.

"Leave me!"

Everyone left quickly, letting Uther be alone in his council chamber.

"Who is Nimueh?" Krysia hissed at Gaius as they left the chamber.

"Never you mind," he replied, which of course meant that something very important was being kept from her. Gaius never kept things from her unless they were important.

Later that night, after Gwen had been freed and returned safely to her father, Gaius, Krysia, and Merlin sat down for their first normal dinner since they found the first body infected with the mysterious disease.

"This fish didn't come from the water, did it?" Merlin asked as he nervously poked at the food on his plate.

"Of course it came from the water, you idiot," Krysia laughed, rolling her eyes. "The water's perfectly clean now. Anyway, you've got bigger things to worry about. According to Gaius there's a very powerful sorcerer you've just thwarted, so I would assume you should be hoping she didn't notice you. Or me. But mostly you."

"Doubt it," Merlin said sullenly. Krysia raised her eyebrow. "Well, nobody else seems to appreciate my skills. I just want someone to see me for who I am."

"One day, Merlin," Gaius replied comfortingly. "One day."

"One day what?" Krysia asked, cutting her own fish.

"One day, people won't believe what an idiot he was."

"Thanks," Merlin said sarcastically.

The three of them toasted, and the rest of the meal was had in comfortable companionship. Krysia had to admit, when Merlin wasn't off being a complete, bungling idiot, he was good to have around.

That night, she crawled into bed, falling asleep rather quickly, sinking into the murky world of dreams.

A handsome man with dark hair and dark eyes was smiling at her roguishly.

"M'lady," he said with a bow. "I will keep your secret, if you keep mine."

In another flash she saw the same man, but his face changed, much more sober and solemn as he pressed a tender hand to her covered abdomen, fear and wonder in his eyes. She could feel something kicking out at his hand and those dark eyes widened with shock as his hand pulled away as if it had been nicked.

"I'm frightened," she heard her voice say.

"I'm not," he told her, his voice reedy and dry. "I'm terrified."

Krysia jolted awake, truly frightened as she tried to hold on to the face of the man in her dream, a face so kind and handsome she was sure she'd never seen one like it before. But she was too distracted by her fear, her pounding heart, the feel of kicking in her belly that had been so immediate, so real.

She looked over at Merlin, who was fast asleep and, of course, snoring like a contented pig. Krysia looked out at the moon for a moment before crawling out of bed, putting on a cloak, and steadying herself with a deep breath. She knew what she had to do, but she hated having to talk to the beast.

With the conviction of one who was allowed to wander the castle at night (because technically, with her position, she was), Krysia marched down to the dungeons, ignored the kindly questions of the guards, one of whom was Leon, and made her way down to the cave which held the Great Dragon.

"Hello?" she cried out into the darkness.

Before she heard a word in answer, the dragon flew toward her, landing on his perch across the chasm, grinning at her, if it could be said that dragons grinned.

"Hello, little enchantress," the dragon said, bowing his head slightly. "Bad dreams once more?"

"Secrets," she demanded. "He said he would keep my secrets if I kept his."

"He will keep them," the dragon drawled. "But that is not what concerns you."

"How could I tell that to a man?" she cried. "Why would I? I could be killed for that!"

"It is not your magic he is talking about, although one day he will learn of that as well," the Great Dragon told her in his most pompous voice. If it had been advisable to slap a dragon, Krysia might have given into the urge in that moment. "You know your other secret."

"They are linked," Krysia insisted.

The dragon laughed his cruel, knowing laugh, and she had never felt so pitiful in her life. Had all of his kin been so condescending, or had the years chained up in the cave done that to him?

"They are," he finally said. "But the telling of them need not be. A little girl whose family was killed during the purge need not herself contain the ability. He is hiding as many secrets as you, enchantress."

Her heart began to race as she tried to recall the handsome face, but it was slipping from her even as it began to form. She felt a great sense of loss at the inability to recall it, like she was forgetting an old friend.

"When will I meet him?" she demanded of the dragon.

"Soon enough," the dragon said cryptically, grinning once more.

"But how soon is that?" she demanded. "Soon can mean many things for one who has lived as long as you!"

The dragon laughed again, and despite her cries of protest, he began to flap his wings loudly, and took off away from her view.

"All in good time, little one. All in good time!"

Krysia swallowed her anger and her tears and stood there in the dark, half hoping that the dragon would return and say more, but knowing that he would not. Then, once she had gathered herself she walked back up, past the guards, and barely paused when Leon called her name, running after her.

"Are you all right?" he asked, frowning at her. "You seem…upset."

"Bad dream," she lied, for all of her that was afraid of the dream also hoped it would return when she closed her eyes again. "I needed a walk."

"Would you like to talk about it?" he asked her gently, holding out his hand to hug her as he had done when they were children.

She smiled at him, hugging him gently and pulling away.

"No, thank you, Leon," she said softly. "I'm feeling better now and you have work. But thank you."

"Any time," he said softly as she walked away, her mind already trying to recall the face of the mystery man.

Five steps later, Leon was forgotten.